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Please Send Chocolate…

I don’t mean to keep disappearing on you… it’s been such a crazy month summer year. I have the best of intentions. I scribble: “WRITE BLOG POST” on the top of my to-do list every day. I really want to do it — I like to do it. I just can’t seem to get to it. (Do you have something like that on your list?)

I did manage to keep up with our Virtual VBS for GrownUp Girls® — hooray! But I am now up to my eyeballs in book revisions, preparations to mark the fifteenth anniversary of my radio ministry next month (wow — how has it been that long?), wedding planning (only 4 months to go!), and starting the process of packing up my entire life to move half way across the country, after said wedding…

Wait — please don’t. I have a dress fitting in six weeks.

Anyway, I was clearing out some files and piles and boxes, and I ran across an old photo that brought back memories…

I’ve shared with you before that when I was a teenager, I was horrifically shy and paralyzed by all kinds of fear. And then I fell in love with Jesus and He set me free.

I was so very grateful, I started praying every day that He would give me opportunities to tell others what He had done for me. As I washed my hair in the morning, I’d open my hands to Him and say, “I’m available, Lord! Use me however You will, for Your kingdom and Your glory.”

I got involved in the leadership of my youth group, started teaching small groups, Sunday School classes, giving my testimony in the evening service at my local church.

And then in my senior year of high school, my speaking ministry began in earnest! For the first time, I got invited to speak at a church not my own (at the time, although years later I became a member) — two sessions: a Friday night and Saturday morning — for the Pioneer Girls on their annual weekend camping retreat.

Hard to believe, but twenty-seven years later, I’m still speaking at retreats… I still have the incredible privilege of bearing witness to the life-changing power of His tender love and breath-taking grace.

As I write these words I’m reminded that we all do, really. Every one of us.

Every day, in big ways and small ways, there are opportunities for us to be His witnesses, to tell our stories — His story.

There are many times I’m not on the platform — when speaking events are few and far between — but I still have daily invitations to share with my own family, my friends, my neighbors.

That is, if I have eyes to see, and ears to hear, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

And the willing heart I had as a teen:

“Lord, I’m available…”

What has Jesus done for you? Want to tell me about it? I’d love to hear! Feel free to post in the comments below or on Facebook… and look for others you can share with today, tomorrow, this weekend.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”